disneyvillainsfandomcom-20200216-history
Doctor Facilier
Doctor Facilier is the main antagonist in the 2009 film, The Princess and the Frog. Sinister and charismatic, he is a voodoo practitioner of dark magic that turns Naveen into a frog, and schemes to use this advantage to take over New Orleans, and become the richest man in the town. Keith David, the voice of Facilier, describes Facilier as a schemer, a conjurer and a sorcerer of sorts. He has a song in the movie called "Friends on the Other Side". Like his polar opposite, Mama Odie who serves as the film's fairy godmother, Facilier serves as the film's witch (witch doctor.) Doctor Facilier personifies the Deadly Sin of Greed and Gluttony, for his desire for money and power, despite that his motives of wickedness are only for his "Friends from the Other Side". The Princess and the Frog In the beginning of the film, Facilier is feared on the streets of New Orleans as he wields black magic and is vehemently known as the "Shadow Man" by all the citizens. He works in the French Quarters luring unsuspecting passerby (marks) into deals where he gives them whatever they want in return for money, but would always leave them much worse off than they were before, while making a quick buck in the end for him. Facilier is however madly jealous of Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff, the richest man of New Orleans, and intends on taking the La Bouff fortune for himelf. When Prince Naveen and his valet, Lawerence arrive from the fictional land of Maldonia, Facilier and his sidekick shadow, which has a mind of its own, hear about this from Big Daddy's daughter, Charlotte, and plan to use this to their advantage. He persuades the prince and his manservant into taking a tour of his lair, a voodoo shop called "Dr Facilier's voodoo emporium." Via his song "Friends on the Other Side" Facilier reads Naveen and Lawerence's tarot cards, and explains that Naveen wishes to be free and have a high life-style yet he is cut-off by his parents in order to learn responsibility. So Facilier promises the enticed prince the "green he needs." Facilier then turns to Lawerence, and says that the jaded valet has been abused all his life by his family and Naveen. The charismatic magician predicts that in Lawerence's future he would be "the man he always wanted to be". Accepting the offers, Facilier turns Naveen into a frog by nipping his finger with a voodoo charm, and convinces Lawerence to become Facilier's ally in his plot to rule New Orleans. Faciler disguises Lawerence as Prince Naveen using the voodoo charm to win Charlotte La Bouff's heart at the La Bouff grand masquerade ball. Then, once Lawerence gets married to her, Faciler will gain their fortune, and kill Big Daddy by driving a pin in a voodoo doll version of him. And will finally gain control of New Orleans, and offers all the wayward souls of the citizens to his voodoo "friends". But the frog Naveen escapes, and convinces Tiana, who thinks she is a princess, to kiss him in order to break the curse, but the spell backfires and she too becomes a frog, and are chased out of the party into the bayou. An incensed Facilier, who soon learns of what happened to the frog Naveen, berates Lawerence for letting the frog Naveen go. Lawerence removes the charm, and throws it, demanding to call the plan off. Facilier, frightened, dives to catch it before it hits the floor, and yells at the valet hysterically for nearly smashing his charm, almost revealing the reason of its safety. Facilier made a deal with his "friends on the other side" who are the evil Loa in the form of the voodoo masks, dolls, and shrunken heads in his emporium and whom he is somewhat afraid of due to a debt with them, and attempts to pay it off by promising them to spread darkness and corruption throughout the streets of New Orleans. And if his charm were to be destroyed, Facilier would be taken away for his failure. It isn't specifically said what his debt is before, but is implied that he may have sold his soul in exchange for his powers. The sinister doctor tells Lawerence to "win her (Charlotte) scented hand." But the spell begins to wear off on Lawerence's disguise, and turns back to his normal self, but manages to succeed in asking Charlotte's hand in marriage during the Mardi Gras parade. The voodoo charm needs Naveen's blood to keep Lawerence in impersonation as the prince, but without the prince, Facilier and Lawerence no longer have a constant supply of Naveen's blood. Knowing that this will put him in deeper debt with the Loa, he has no choice but to call on them to find Naveen. In exchange, he promises the satanic spirits that once he kills Big Daddy LaBouff and gains his fortune, he will allow the Loa to own all of New Orleans and all its wayward souls. Appeased by the diabolical proposal, the spirits give Facilier the power to control voodoo shadow demons that go in search of Naveen. The shadows succeed, and bring the frog Naveen to Facilier, who locks him away after refueling the voodoo charm. During the wedding of Charlotte and Lawerence (disguised as Naveen), the real Naveen is freed by Ray the firefly, and steals the charm, causing Lawerence to resume his true form, and is later arrested. Ray gives Tiana the charm at the Lafayette Cemetery, and tells her to run and to never let Faciler get ahold of the charm, just before he faces and destroys some of the shadows with his light, but Dr. Facilier crushes and mortally wounds the firefly. Tiana threatens to smash the charm if Facilier and his shadows get any closer. Feeling trapped, Faciler temporaily transforms Tiana back into human again, and creates an illusion where she is in her dream restaurant. The Machiavellian doctor says he can offer Tiana everything she could ever want if she gives Facilier back his talisman (and telling her that it would make her late father's dream come true as well). But, though momentarily considering the offer, Tiana refuses upon realizing that what she needs (love and following her heart) are more important than what she wants (and even though her father never got what he wanted, he had what he needed, and never lost sight of what was really important). Unfortunately, despite her turning down his deal and almost shattering the talisman, Facilier's shadow snatches it and gives it back to him, and he removes the illusion and transforms Tiana back into a frog. He pins her down with his cane, gloating that Tiana will now spend the rest of her life being a "slimy, little frog". But Tiana uses her tongue to pull the talisman out of the surprised Facilier's grasp, and finally destroys it. As he tries to repair the shattered talisman, the angry Loa, "Friends on the Other Side Reprise", appear and prepare to take Facilier away. Terrified, he tries to beg his "friends" for forgiveness and for more time to pay back his debt, saying he has more plans, and attempts to escape his fate, but they proceed to drag a screaming Facilier and his shadow into their world (perhaps their version of Hell), his soul now claimed for failing them. All that remains of the evil voodoo doctor is a gravestone with his name and terrified face etched. Personality Facilier is a scheming voodoo magician with "Friends on the Other Side". Much like Ursula, Facilier tricks his victims into making deals with him by claiming he can make their dreams come true after reading their tarot cards. However, the deals he makes aren't exactly what is to be expected as when he told Naveen that he saw "the green" in his future, which Naveen thought it meant money. However, upon making the deal, Facilier transformed him into a frog. As Naveen says, Facilier is indeed charismatic, suave, smooth-talking, and often charming, but cruel, remorseless and sadistic, from leaving his victims worse off than they were before to mortally killing Ray. Like other Disney villains, he is highly Machiavellian as shown by his manipulation of Naveen, Lawerence, and later Tiana into helping them under false pretences. Despite his foreboding aura, Facilier's motives behind his wickedness are self-preservation via the deal with his "friends." Physical Appearance Facilier bears many physical traits that are similar to Jafar, such as being tall, skinny, dark-skinned, mustached; and dressed in very linear black-and-red clothing. He wears a necklace with two crocodile teeth and wears a top hat with a purple feather in it, and a skull and crossbones on it; the skull could be magically removed and change into a skull make-up as shown in "Friends on the other side". Under his top hat, instead of being bald or having a comb-over, Facilier has a huge hairdo to fit in his hat. Facilier wears a dark maroon undertaker tailcoat and black pants, white spats over black shoes, a ill-fitting purple vest under his coat which doesn't entirely cover his midriff, and a red cummerbund. One might say he somewhat looks and performs like a showman. Like most Disney Villains, Facilier wears mostly purple, red, and black in his clothing. He wields a cane with a purple globe on top, possibly a crystal ball, though it is never revealed, and carries a voodoo talisman, which is the fragile source of his powers. Facilier is accompanied by his sidekick shadow that actually has a life and personality of its own, being able to move of its own free will and move objects like the voodoo shadow spirits. It may be suggested that it may be a similar spirit given by Facilier's "friends," though it fears the same fate that he will if failed to pay back his debt, and it is perhaps a physical representation of Facilier's inner evil. Powers and Abilities Facilier, as his voice actor stated, is a conjurer and sorcerer of sorts, possessing powerful voodoo magic. His shadow is capable of moving on its own, even being able to separate itself from him for a short while, as well as changing its shape and size and moving things through their shadows. Facilier can call upon an army of fiendish shadow minions to do his bidding. He is able to contact his "Friends on the Other Side," though he fears them. His magic is so powerful that when Naveen is turned into a frog, the kisses he would give to anyone, except for a princess, would turn them into frogs. Yet Facilier's powers are limited in that he can't conjure up a thing for himself, so he is dependent on his "friends." The life source of his powers is a voodoo talisman that he uses to disguise Lawerance as Prince Naveen. Backstage Doctor Facilier is voiced by veteran voice actor, Keith David, known to many as Goliath from Gargoyles. His chief animator is Bruce Smith who choose to animate Dr. Facilier because "for every lead character to shine, they must have an equally entertaining adversary." Bruce Smith even describes Facilier as the love child of the Disney Villains Captain Hook and Cruella De Vil. "Friends from the Other Side" Unlike many Disney Villains, who always have minions that do their every whim, or suffer their masters' wrath, Dr. Facilier is possibly the first villain to have minions that become the threat to him. His "Friends from the Other Side" are evil Loa (possibly Ghede Loa) that seem to be the real villains of the movie, and are initally the ones responsible for acquiring the voodoo doctor his black magic. They are in the form of the Gris-Gris in his dark emporium, such as masks, voodoo dolls, shrunken heads, and shadows, and are planning to feast upon the wayward souls of New Orleans. During Facilier's musical number Friends on the Other Side, the Loa sing a tiny bit in the beginning, and stay camouflaged until the end after Naveen and Lawerence shake Facilier's hands in agreement for their dreams to come true. The Masks chant, the Voodoo Dolls beat drums with their needles and dance as Facilier whips out a talisman given to him by what seems to be the 'Head' Mask Loa, a horned mask that is much larger than the other Loa. After nipping Naveen's finger, the prince turns into a frog, and Facilier makes Lawerence his partner-in-crime by disguising the envious manservant as Naveen. Later on, when Facilier asks help from his "Friends" to retrieve Naveen when he escaped, the doctor proposes a deal with the incensed Loa that once he takes over New Orleans, he will hand over all the souls of the citizens to the gluttonous spirits. Enticed by the offer, the 'Head' Mask summons voodoo shadows to do Facilier's bidding, his first being to retrieve Naveen. Finally, during the climax at the Lafayette Cemetery, after Tiana smashes Facilier's talisman, the sinister Loa come out from hiding, reprising "Friends on the Other Side," and prepare to take the frightened voodoo witch doctor away to their world. Despite his pleas, the Spirits corner Facilier to a grave that takes the form of the 'Head' Mask, which as it turns out to also be the Hellmouth to the Voodoo Underworld. Dr. Facilier tries to escape, but his "Friends" snare and drag his shadow, thus dragging him into the open and awaiting mouth of the Mask Loa. As the evil Facilier and his shadow disappear inside the Mask's mouth, the rest of the Loa get sucked back into their world, just as the 'Head' Mask closes its jaws, and too vanishes in a flash of light. This is the last time Dr. Facilier and his "Friends" are seen through the remainder of the film. Trivia *Facilier was originally named Dr. Duvalier, and was originally a voodoo magician and fortune teller. *Facilier is the first black Disney Villain and the fourth to be French or have French origins. *Facilier appears to resemble Baron Samedi, the haitian voodoo loa of the dead. He wore a top hat, a tuxedo, and other accessories. He too has associations with voodoo spirits. It may be presumbed that Facilier is a worshipper of Samedi. *Aspects of Facilier's appearance are shared by shock-rock singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins. *Facilier's situation is similar to another (non-Disney) villain, Rasputin from Anastasia. They both sold their souls to gain the power of sorcery, and the source of their powers are also their life sources. One scene of the movies show the minions throwing the villain's power sources, and the villains snatching them in time. And in the climax of both films, it is the heroines that smash the magical objects, and the villains are taken to Hell (but in the case of Dr Facilier, he was sent to the Voodoo version). Category:Wizards Category:Classics Category:Magic Villains Category:Men Category:Comical Villains Category:Masters of Evil Category:Singing Villains Category:Deceased villains Category:Killers